Emmanuel Macron ended up giving in. As the Ukrainians have been demanding for months, France will therefore deliver Mirage 2000-5 type combat aircraft, the Head of State announced this Thursday evening, on TF1 and France 2. He did not specify how many devices will be provided. The Air Force still has around twenty of them, on the bases of Luxeuil (Haute-Saône) and Djibouti.
The “dash 5”, as aviators call it, is an air defense aircraft, intended for hunting. It is a modernized version of the Mirage 2000 C, an aircraft dating from the 1980s. The 2000-5 was originally intended for export, but 37 were supplied to the Air Force. It was planned to be withdrawn from service in the coming years, to be replaced by the more modern Rafale Le Mirage 2000-5. nonetheless remains an aircraft with capabilities greater than those of the Soviet-type aircraft that Ukraine still uses.
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France thus joins four other European countries, which will deliver combat planes to Ukraine, F-16s in this case. These are Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark. Deliveries of F-16s are underway, but none have yet been deployed in Ukraine, let alone engaged in combat.
Bombing or ground attack. An air defense aircraft, the Mirage 2000-5 will enable Ukraine to ensure control of its airspace against Russian intrusions, including drones. Recently, devices of this type based in Djibouti destroyed drones fired by the Houthis of Yemen, which threatened maritime traffic in the Red Sea. The “Dash-5” can also be used for bombing or ground attack missions.
Ukrainian soil is sovereign. It’s not a question of going to the combat zone to train, but at a time when Ukraine has a challenge, we must respond to it as we have done every time
President Macron also indicated that France will provide training for Ukrainian pilots, that is to say their “transformation” on this type of aircraft. Ukrainian aviators are already in initial fighter pilot training in Cazaux (Gironde), where they fly on Alpha Jet.
4500 men. Another announcement from the President of the Republic: the formation by France of a new light brigade of 4,500 men, which will be equipped with French equipment. On the other hand, Emmanuel Macron has not announced the sending of French military instructors to Ukrainian soil. The question remains open, as the Head of State explained: “there should be no taboo on this subject. Ukrainian soil is sovereign. It is not a question of going to train in the combat zone, but at the moment when Ukraine has a challenge, we must respond to it as we have done each time,” he explained. Beyond the political significance of such a gesture of support, Ukraine, which has human resources problems, needs to shorten the training times of its soldiers before sending them into combat.
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For several days, Paris had been working to try to put together a coalition of European countries also wishing to send instructors to Ukraine. The ace ! Few volunteers came forward – there was reportedly a clear Polish refusal – and France did not want to go it alone. The spectacular announcement of the delivery of combat aircraft will make it possible to forget this, undoubtedly temporary, disappointment.
